Figure toy



P. ESSER FIGURE TOY April 6 1926.

Filed Feb. 23, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n BYMMINVENTOR M/y/WTORNEY PatentedAApr. 6,1926. Y y

` NnEDiv PETER EssER, 0F oLIEioli,` NEW JERSEY.

FIGURE ".loY.

Applicationmed February 2k3, i922.'y serial no. 5`3egrz5.'

ToY all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, PETER Essnn, aqcitizenA oi the United States,residing in Clifton,-

in the vcounty ot- Passaie and State of New ersey, have invented certainVnew and;u'se- Y ful Improvements in Figure Toys, of' which `thefollowing-'is yaspecilication. v

The primary object of this inventionV is f to provide'a toy with meansfor simulating Y'the accompanying drawings, forming Y a 1nater1al l"partof this disclosure and. 1n 'which z-icertainfhuinan movements that arenovel andl interesting alike to children and kolderperson's.

'v Another object' has been" to provide-a simple mechanicaly ligure,representingv diver, with means whereby vthe figure Avis caused to mounta; ladder attachedtoa .verticallcolunin. y i. l i

A 'further obJect 1s the ineanszprovided. for

causing the climbingj ligure to be Vcarried to the'top orv a column,from Where it is arojectedi into space in` the manner of a iiighdiveralighting in a: tank.

' These and other objects arek attained by the novel combinationv andarrangement of partsjliereinafter described and shownvin' Figure 1 'isanV enchelevational, view of' atoy'made'in' accordance with theinvention. 'Figure' 2A is a 'side elevationalviewcof thesa1ne`,"showing`by dottedflnes, Vvarious A' positions of the movableligure. Y'

Figure'S is ajperspective viewvsh'owing the lay of the operating cord'.f

'Figure-4 isa partial sectional View, taken online Q4-of Figure 5. ,n v'Y Figure 5 is a` sectional view` taken on the line 5450i. Figure2.

Figure 6 .is a fragmentary detail' view of the moving figure elements.lFigure' /ii'cat'lon ot'l the` operatingv means.`

Tis aside View: showing 'a modi-v l Figure '8 i's'a fragmentary viewshowing vanother lnodiiicatlonzotthe operating means. Referring ,toV`the`4 drawings, the numeral 10 designates arectangulargfplatdiorin,*hav- .ing attached a, block ll'anduprightelements 12, between which, isa windingdruin xlrlnanually rotatedib'y 'acrank` 145` mounted in the uprights andiixedto: the drum.

Secured rigidly toY the Vtop of the block 11 is a vertical column 15,having grooves or cord channels 16andf17 formed longi.- tudinallyattli-efront. and're'ar, respectively.

contoured-on the-inner edges as At a spaced distance `from each-` sideVlof' 'V the col'uinn 15, are upright bars 18l and 1 9, havingtheirlower -ends'ixed in the block ll.

Drilled through thelbars 18K4 vand 1%93 are spaced holes in registerwith holes in the column 15, in a manner tojrecei'vev andhold aplurality ot wires 20, that when "ase selnbledfrm the'fvrungs of theladders 21 fand-22 which, by referring te Fig.l 51j, will be fseento beinclined toward the;n front,r`

the purpose being'tocausejlth-e limbs of a climbing/figureto be'centeredand forced inwardly, *preventingV the gure fromv turn'- yingsidnvis'eon* its.v supp'ortingrung.` 'Referring to Figure 1itwill beseenr that'the rlungs",` of the ladders lare'larranged in'v [and havegroovedpulleys'31',"32 and 33 dis- `posecll"bet\veen thein rotatable on pins28,

vgrooves of fand firedy iny thel bar, 1G. On the outward extendingportion of 29` and 30-y passing transve'rslyk through] the plates 26 andv`27'- are: fixed' tubular v'elements f 34 adapted toi receiveo'rnainental*` objects, as the flag staffy 35 shoivn` .reinovablyjfe'n-19. v i The moving figure, simulatingv a diver,

"comprises body 3G havingr arms 37 and legs'BS attachedtor the bodybythe pivots 39 and 40', and `a central drilled hole extendslongitudinally into the carrying'pin 54; y' f Coiled''springs111V havingtz'uigent-ialex- `tending elements" bent yat right angles' .are

interposed between the body Vandthe limbs, the coils surrounding the.pivotv pins and jacent sides 'of vthe body and flimbfmeinbersat'properpositionfand, as shown Figure 6, causes 'the arms and legs tobe drawn lfor- Asfpreviously stated .the ladclenriingsare arranged instaggered order and as ,the diver is advancedupwardly, the arm and' legmembers, due '.to th bodyy receptive of' a e actionfof the springs gagedin theends 'of the'ladderv'sidesg1S :and 1 the-'springends 12` and@entering thel ad- Ward;` and upu'fardv in .a' manner radaptedto ".1015 v1 l engage with therungs of the ladder.v

41, automatically, alternately Contact with the rungs, thus producing aperfect imitation of a person climbing a ladder.

The articulated figure is actuated by an endless cord 44 passingupwardly in the groove 16 of the column 15, over the grooved pulleys 31,32 and 33, then downwardly in groove 17 and under the pulley 45,rotatably secured at the bottom of the column 15.

Another cord 4G is spliced to the cord 44, as shown at 47 of Figure B,and passes over the pulley 33, then downward under the pulley 45 to thewindlass drum 13. Thus 1t f will be seen that as the cord is wound onthe drum, the point 47 of splicing 47 will be carried downward, while acorresponding upward movement will be imparted to the outer cord 44.

Secured to the outer run of the cord 44, is a tranverse plate 48 havingformed at the center a hinge element 49. Integral wings 5() and 51, bentat right angles to the plate 48, engage the sides of column 15,providing means for guiding 'and controlling the movement of the slideplate 48 very tically.

A spring element 52, is formed at its front end as an inverted U elementand the opposite end forms the complementary member of the hinge 49.

An angularly bent spring 53, is secured to the upper side of element 52by a vertically disposed carrying pin 54, the other end of the springabutting against the upper face of the plate 48, in which position thetension of the spring urges the hinge elements into closed position.

Below the ligure carrying elements just decribed and co-'actingtherewith, is a releasing device comprising a plate 55, having integralside wings 56 and 57 formed at right angles and adapted to slidevertically along the front edge of the column 15.

The lower side of the plate is curled upward to form a hinge clement 5S,pivotally engaging a releasing latch 59 having formed at its lower endtwo reversely curved elements 60 and 61, the opposite end 62 having asingle curve to engage within the spring elements 52 of the ligurecarrier, as shown in Fig. 4, in which .position the sliding element 57is secured permanently to the cord.

As the diver is carried over the pulley 31, Athe spring looses itstension, due to the tilting of the hinge'plate 48, and the lower portionbeing brought into contact with the releasing latch 59, causes the uppercurved en'd 62 to be forced from the spring element 52 and to assume theposition shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

As the latch is released, the carrier is dropped by gravity onto thehinge element 48, and the diver, carried on the pin 54,

assumes an upright position while moving along the horizontal topportion of the diving platform between pulleys 3l and 32.

As the carrier passes over the second pulley 32, the weight of the diverbody 36 causes the hinge 49 to open, throwing forward the body into ahorizontal position and the pin 54, on being further advanced, turnsdownward permitting the diver to drop head down in the manner of adiving body.

A flexible tank 7 0 is provided for catching the diver, the same beingpartially filled with water, and is supported by rings 71 ixed to itsupper-edge and to the ends of stakes 72 held by dowels engaged in aplatform 723 adjacent the ladder plate form 10, and there removably heldby dowel rods 74 passing through cleats 75 fixed to the undersides ofthe platforms 10 and 73.

Thus the diving ligure, which is preferably made hollow of lightmaterial, when projected into the tank, rises and floats upon thesurface of the water in the tank, carrying out the illusions of a diver,leaping from considerable height, in a manner closely approximatingactual conditions.

' The modification, shown in Figure 7, indicates a simple operatingmeans, the double cord and the windlass being discarded, and a weight 8Oadapted to engage a hook niember 81, secured to the endless cord 82,provides means for operating by gravity.

Figure S shows a further modification in which the manually operatedwindlass is superseded by a spring motor 90 mounted in a housing 91fixed to the base ofthe toy.

While certain preferred embodiments of this device have been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that changes inv the form,arrangements, proportions, sizes and details thereof may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention as defined in the appendedclaims:

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is i 1. In a toy, the combination. with agrooved column having an angularly extending arm, of pulleys in thegrooves of said column, an endless cord-trained about the pulleys, asecondary cord having one Vend spliced to the inner run of the endlesscord, the other end engaging with the drum of a windlass, means wherebya figure carrier attached to the outer run of said cord is caused tomove upward and outward on said arm as the secondary cord is wound onsaid drum and means for releasing an object on the figure carrier whenat the end of said arm whereby it may fall in an inverted position.

2. In a toy, thecombination with a vertical column having groovesarranged on opposite sides, pulleys in said grooves at the upper end ofthe column, a single grooved y' pulley in the outer groove atthebase ofsaid column, an endless cordflying inV said grooves andfdisposed aboutsaid pulleys, a carrier'secured to tliecord for raising an object to thetop ofgsa'id column, and releasable means siiporting 'a portion of saidcarrier and) adapted to be automatically'A released when the object lis,raised to its highest point. Y l

'3. Iii. a toy, the combinationy with a grooved column having meanswithin said groovessuited to maintain an endless cord inoperableposition, aiigure carriei secured to said cord, said carriercomprising a y hinged element having one leaf fixedjat its,V

vertical center tothe outer run of theV cord, and the other leaf formedinto an inverted U shape adapted to engage the curved end of a lockinglever liingedly engaged in a' slide ysecured to said cord, a spring formaintaining said engagement, and a pin extending vertically upwardhfrom. said U V supporting an articushaped element for lated figure.r

4:.y In a toy,

ascend to the top of the column Vand drop therefrom in the mannervvof a.diver, said figure comprising a k,body having pivoted arms and'legs,springs interposed between said body and thev arms and legs, saidsprings constituting means'whei'eby the' arms and v legs are vnormallyheld"outward froml the f the'l .combination with' a. column, a base, aplatform removably connected tol said base, means associated with4 saidcolumn whereby a figure is caused toV nameto this application'. l

i' PETER Esser..A I

body, and means for causing the arms and legs to contact with therungsof a ladder' on saidcolum-Ii'whenthe figure ascends.

i 5. In a toy, the combination with a column having means for carrying afigure up to and over the top thereof, said means coniprising pulleys,anfendless cord disposedV Aover the pulleys, a carrier secured tol saidcord, `a pin extending upward from the carrierrfor supporting thefigure, means 'for maintaining said pin and Afigure in upright position,a. locking lever means for releasing said lever when said carrier passesover one of said pulleys, a spring vfor causing the hinged elementsofthe carrier to close after-v passing "said pulley, allowing thefigure'to having ladder elements, of a'figure Vsiinulat ling Aa diver,said figure 'being articulated, means for Causing said gure to ascendsaid ladder step by step, meansA forl maintaining the figure in uprightposition when ascending, means vfor releasing said figure upon reachingthe top yof said column; and a "flexible water filled tank receptiveotsaid rfigure when diving.

lIn testimony whereof I have signed my

